Impact Doesn't Convey What You Do

The Nonprofit world is awash in talk of impact. Simply add it before the word metric, or story and you have the content of most board presentations and donor pitches. But impact means a violent action.

im·pact (noun) /?im?pak(t)/ : "the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another."

Is that what nonprofits do? Can our actions in a community be described as a display of raw power? None of us would say that is the case, yet the language of impact conveys another story. It undermines our intent.

Nonprofits exist to influence change, not to violently cause it. Influence is built by trust rooted in understanding. These characteristics of lasting change are difficult to achieve; they are hard to measure and challenging to convey to donors. But when we slip into impact language we are letting go of our distinctive way of operating in the world.

Are you saying we don’t need to keep stats?

No, I just wrote about measuring what matters recently. What I’m saying is that if you are guided only by “impact” and not by “influence” you will measure the wrong things.

How to focus on influence as a goal?

1) Know your purpose

2) Understand what produces change

3) Create metrics that matter for you

4) Connect with the real people you serve

In today's newsletter, each of these four ways to develop influence is expanded with exercises and examples. This content is for paid subscribers to The Nonprofit Leader Newsletter. Each week focuses on issues that connect deeply with leaders in the mission-driven workplace. Consider joining this community. Many expense this under subscriptions in their continuing education budgets.

Summary

Impact is not a good way to describe the influence of a nonprofit. Instead, 1) Know your purpose, 2) Understand what produces change, 3) Create metrics that matter for you, and 4) Connect with the real people you serve.?

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